On-loan Arsenal star Folarin Balogun’s international saga has taken a fresh twist after he withdrew from England ’s U21s squad for March’s fixtures against France and Croatia.
The 21-year-old is playing his trade on loan for Reims in Ligue 1, where he has scored an incredible 18 goals across all competitions for the French outfit. Balogun has always been a highly regarded Gunners academy product - but his meteoric rise in France has fired his international future into the limelight, especially after he was snubbed by Gareth Southgate for England’s senior squad, a decision he appeared to publicly hit out at.
Balogun was instead supposed to turn out for the U21s, who he has already featured for this term, but he has pulled out due to injury. This is despite playing the full 90 minutes in Reims’ last match, a 2-1 loss to Marseille, which he scored in. He has also not been listed by the club as injured, sparking rumours of an international switch.
